This application is a national stage of PCT/PT00/00014 filed Aug. 10, 1999 and based upon Portugese national application 102190 of Aug. 17, 1998 under the International Convention.
At present, the mechanical harvesting of olives makes use of two kinds of agricultural machines. The first kind that will be called xe2x80x9cvibratorxe2x80x9d holds the olive tree by the trunk and causes its fruitxe2x80x94the olivesxe2x80x94to detach by means of vibration and to fall down onto the ground, more precisely onto cloths placed around the olive tree. The second kind uses vertical poles that knock the olive tree horizontally. Such poles are seated vertically on a mechanical vibrating platform. The lateral pole knocking causes the fruits of the olive treexe2x80x94the olivesxe2x80x94to fall vertically onto the cloths placed on the ground around the tree to be gathered afterwards.
In both kinds of machines, the gathering of the olives is an operation following the mechanical operation of harvest. In both kinds of machines the physical action of the machine is applied to the olive tree which is shaken or knocked.
A search of the state of the art has revealed the existence of Portugese patents No. 91416 and No. 96472 to Verdegiglio; No. 94709 to Luis G. M. Zoio and Johanna W. V. Mourik; the U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,146 to Erickson M. C. and the German patent DE 3006177 to (PIRE) Industrie Pirelli SPA.
The machine of the present invention differs from any other kind of machine in use. It does not exert any physical action upon the tree. It produces a directed and controlled air stream of the swirl type, that causes the natural fall of the olives into a bag or skirt that belongs to the machine itself. The olives pass through the collecting pipe of the skirt into a storage container or tank that then convey the olives directly to a depot or olive press The gathering is made by the machine of the present invention.
The machine of the present invention can also be useful to harvest other kinds of fruits and even for further purposes. In effect, advantage can be taken of the generation of the low intensity swirl, for example, for the treatment of other species of trees and against any kind of plagues, by spraying the trees with any kind of suitable product, thus increasing their economical value.
The main element of the apparatus of the invention is comprised by a set of two concentric spherical caps for condensing the wind and orienting its distribution:
The external fixed spherical cap is provided with a holding hoop (externally held by a lifting machine of the crane type), with openings for supplying compressed air conveyed through a feed pipe to its inside, supplied from a motor driven air compressor. This spherical cap can be made in hard aluminum or any other suitable material.
In the external spherical cap are embedded telescopic bars for support of the skirt.
The internal spherical cap is movable around a fixing angle that connects it to the external spherical cap leaving between them a space for receiving the compressed air.
The internal spherical cap has a vane set in its external surface and a vane set in its internal surface, the external surface vanes having a larger size than the internal surface vanes.
Further to the vanes the internal spherical cap has slots or slits conveniently directed for the generation of the swirl. The internal spherical cap can be made in molded brass or plastics.
Attached all around to the outer periphery of the external spherical cap by means of holding straps is a skirt which can be made of a suitable transparent material, such as a transparent polyvinyl or other suitable material. The skirt is disposed closed all around the tree, for enclosing the swirl for sufficient time to cause the fruits (olives) to fall. The fruits are conveyed to the exterior of the skirt by means of a flexible collection pipe or sleeve.
The holding straps will have eyelets that will direct the skirt gathering threads while changing it from the tree.
The apparatus can cooperate with the following secondary parts:
A motor driven air compressor with controlled variable intensity flow.
A lifting machine (crane) for lifting and holding the two spherical caps and the skirt set over the treexe2x80x94xe2x80x9colive treexe2x80x9dxe2x80x94and carrying the compressed air feed pipe for the spherical caps.
A wheeled stable platform (trailer) which will carry along the olive tree plantation the motor driven compressor, the lifting machine, the skirt and spherical caps set and the olive storage tank.